China Becomes No. 2 Movie Market

While revenue at the domestic and worldwide box office grew about 6 percent in 2012, it was up a whopping 36 percent in Canada, which became the second-largest market for movies after the U.S. with $2.7 billion in ticket sales, the Motion Picture Association of America and the National Association of Theatre Owners said on Thursday. The U.S. and Canada set a new annual record of $10.8 billion. The MPAA and NATO said that the number of admissions rose slightly as well to 1.36 million from 1.28 million in 2011. (However, admission figures amount to estimates given the wide variety of ticket fares, including special prices for children, seniors, military, matinees, promotions, 3D, and IMAX and combinations of the above.) The number of 3D releases in 2012 dropped to 36 from 45 in 2011. In a conference call with reporters, NATO chief John Fithian noted that the figures for 2013 are down 12 percent this year compared with the same period a year ago. He blamed the fall-off on a plethora of R-rated dramas with a lot of violence. There's been very little family fare.